Osmanthus Cake/Story
Fondness Story I. Unspeakable Pain "Oh, Osmanthus Cake, are you reading?" A familiar voice rang out from behind me, I stopped what I was doing and turned around. It was a flamboyantly dressed madam with a pretty face. Deep within the attractive eyes hides a hatred unlike any other. A deep hatred towards me. She used her hand to cover her mouth, talking with a warm voice. No one would have thought, with this kind of gentle posture, she would have spat such poisonous words before. I stood myself up, faced the madam and bowed. "Osmanthus Cake, don’t read anymore, look at your Master Attendant, don’t you feel bad for him?" Without waiting for me to say anything, the madam let out a worrisome expression. "The ink in the house is almost used up; if it’s not quickly filled up, then your Master Attendant won’t be able to read anymore." After she was done speaking, the madam turned to look at Master Attendant and let out a sigh. "He’s not like you; if he can’t read, then this year……" "Understood, I will go and buy it now, Madam will not need to worry." Before she could finish, I finished her sentence. I know what she wants to say, she just doesn’t want to see me. Looking at the Master Attendant, my heart unconsciously started feeling disappointed. As well as some hints of numbness. I bowed to them both once again, then left the patio without looking back. Stepping over the threshold, I could still hear the complaints of the madam behind me, as well as Master Attendant’s appeasing agreements. "Why……did it become like this?" II. A familiar person who is a stranger Walking along the streets of town without a purpose, a familiar scene flashed before my eyes. In just a moment, I felt like I saw a lot of “has beens”. Right outside the book house, Master Attendant and I exchanged our hand selected books joyfully. In the jewelry shop, Master Attendant helped me put on a lotus hairpin, saying that I look good with it. …… The next second, the noise of the crowd woke me from my memories. Logic keeps reminding me that those times are long gone. I don’t know if I’m feeling regret or sadness, and I came to a shop that sells all sorts of stationeries. The shopkeep saw me, then warmly invited me into the shop. Letting out a sigh, I hesitated for a bit, then went in anyways. The truth is that there is no lack of ink or pens at home, but it’s like I said before, the madam doesn’t want to see me in the house. Situations like this repeats everyday, it’s either I go out to buy little things, or to go lend the maids a helping hand. If I was just helping out to work around the house, then I wouldn’t mind. But Madam’s eyes would always leak out some hatred towards me, and this point makes me terribly uncomfortable. Its really a gaze that people hate. Ever since Master Attendant came to the Madam’s house, it has been like this. Oh……right, it’s not that he came in, it’s written married on the paperwork…… My thoughts went further and further. When they went so far that I didn’t even know what I was thinking about, a sudden impact brought me to my senses. I unconsciously walked until I bumped into someone’s arms! The warm scent of a male fell on my face, and my face started to get very hot. I hurriedly pushed the person away, then stepped back a few steps, not even daring to hold my head up and apologized. "S…….sorry, I didn’t mean to……." Unintelligibly muttering my words, I hung my head lower than the sun. But what was unexpected was that the person before me didn’t react at all, he just stood there without moving. Carefully raising my head, I saw a gentle and elegant young man wearing taoist robes. As well as the young man’s sly face. He gazed at me with a stunned expression and started talking only after a while. "Os……manthus Cake?" "Eh?" III. Reading Fortune TN: In this translation, as well as the previous parts of Osmanthus Cake’s story, she refers to herself as “奴家”. It is a very humble, dainty way of referring to oneself (as in, to say “I”), and it is primarily used by slaves. I have taken the liberty of putting an asterisk (*) right next to every time she uses 奴家 instead of the normal “I”. Huangshan Maofeng is surprised when he heard her referring to herself like that because if you read in his fondness stories, she refers to herself as a normal “I” and is not dainty at all. Instead, in that story, she gives off more of a tomboyish vibe. Please enjoy! "So, how do you know my name?" Sitting in front of the wooden table, I scrunched my eyebrows while looking at the young man who is chewing slowly. After bumping into him earlier, the young man decided to have me treat him to a meal as reimbursement. The situation was very clear, except for the fact that he called my name, the entire situation wasn’t very strange at all. But for some reason, my heart is bubbling with a feeling of violation and familiarity; my intuition is telling me that this guy isn’t someone who’s so simple and just happens to know my name. It got to the point that while I was the one feeling guilty, my tone still had hints of unkindness. Noticing this, I quickly cleared my throat, straightening my pose. No matter what, I am the one who is in the wrong, I cannot be disrespectful to someone just because of thoughts like these. "I…?*" The young man paused eating and looked up at me, asking questioningly. "I’ve been meaning to ask since earlier, why does Osmanthus Cake refer to yourself as I*?" "Is….is there a problem?" I unconsciously scrunched my eyebrows again, seriously thinking about what the meaning to his words was. "I thought you would have referred to yourself as Jie Jie." The young man shrugged his shoulders. "Something like “Jie Jie didn’t do it on purpose.”" TN: He makes her sound like a gangster/tomboyish in this one lol "How……how can anyone say anything like that.」Angry and embarrassed feelings came to mind, and I subconsciously patted the table with the book in my hand. "That would be too rude." I don’t know why, but after hearing what I said, the young man in front of me suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahahaha……" "Rude……hahahaha!" I didn’t even get the chance to feel upset when the young man’s expression changed in a second, his laughter stopped and looked seriously at me. "My name is Huangshan Maofeng, I’m a Taoist from Taiyun Guan, and I primarily practice in counting fortune." "A few days ago I observed the night sky and calculated that there would be a supernatural meeting today." "And by the looks of it now, you’re my fated person." While he was speaking, Huangshan Maofeng swung his whisk, holding his left hand up and bowing, throwing a few copper coins by my heel with his right hand and spoke softly. "Why don’t you let this poor monk calculate a fortune for you?" "Hah???" "What rubbish are you saying, I* don’t understand." I carefully stepped back a little. As if he could see what I was thinking, Huangshan Maofeng smiled serenely, scattering the copper coins on the table and spoke. "Your luck has been continuously bad this year?" "Not only you, but also your Master Attendant too?" "……" Huangshan Maofeng continued to blabber on to me, and even though I thought he was a liar who utters rubbish at first, but then I slowly got shocked at how accurate his descriptions were. "You…..really know how to calculate fortune?"I still had some suspicions. Seeing this, Huangshan Maofeng shot something from his fingers and a copper coin fell into my palm. Flipping it around, there were two words carved onto it – “Scholarly honour”. "This is the cure to this problem, isn’t it?" Looking at the copper coin, I was stunned into place and had my jaw hanging open. Huangshan Maofeng got that right too, the root of everything laid in scholarly honor. IV. An inexplicable deal TN: Just like the last translation, any time Osmanthus Cake uses the “奴家” I, it will be marked with an asterisk. Enjoy! A few years ago, Master Attendant only had me by his side. In order to be able to ace his exam and get the scholarly honour, Master Attendant tirelessly studied. I would be his study buddy, accompanying him under every night lamp; being with him every day and night in the books. We helped each other, grew together, and our days were leisurely and happy. But nice sceneries never last long, and after a few years, Master Attendant never succeeded in getting a good place on the board, so our lives slowly got more and more bland and bland. No longer was there any more laughs between us, no more heartfelt discussions, and all that’s left was an edgeless silence. I have tried to change the situation before, but everything still stayed in its gloomy state. In the end, Master Attendant chose a path a never thought he would. He married the daughter of the richest merchant in the city. It may be a marriage on paper, but everyone mocked it as getting in through marriage. Facing all of this gossip, Master Attendant gritted his teeth together and took on that burden, all for his initial wish. But fate loves to play tricks on people, and that year, the country started to look into bribe cases in the merchants’ line of business, and Master Attendant didn’t make it on the board again. As such, both Master Attendant and I fell to an even more pitiful status in the home. And Master Attendant’s wife who confused the shared happiness and hardships between us as a romantic relationship, so her attitude towards me got even more vile. The emotions that have been suppressed for so long spilled out like a waterfall, unable to stop. After a while, my words started to slow down, and unexpectedly, we talked for the entire afternoon. Once I finished talking, I brought myself out from my emotions, and was surprised by how much time has passed. I was about to apologise to Huangshan Maofeng when I saw his blank face again. "Are……you okay?" Huangshan Maofeng came back to his senses, and the looked at me with tender eyes. It also made me feel a sense of familiarity. Immediately after, he played the the copper coin, then said. "Your problem is easy to fix." "All you need to do is to leave him." "Don’t worry, I’m just telling you the way to solve the problem, you don’t have to do it immediately." "You just have to promise me, if your Master Attendant made it to the top of the scholar’s board this year, you will do as you say and leave." If this was before, after listening to these words, I wouldn’t even care about such suggestions. But after so many years, the situation isn’t the same anymore. The relationship between Master Attendant and I also thinned out by the day. The truth is laid before me. No matter if I choose to accept it or not, it is proven that I don’t have the ability to help Master Attendant solve his problem. An image of Master Attendant’s smiling face suddenly floated to my mind. Then…..This suggestion that is so absurd……what would the problem be if I believed in it once? As long as his wish is fulfilled. "Osmanthus Cake, let me tell you yeah, I will definitely, definitely get that scholarly honor, then become a parent officer, so that you can live a good life." The smiling face then turned into a promise-breaking, cowardly face. I closed my eyes and replied softly. "If what you said were true, then I* will grant you your wish." Half a year later, I stood outside the festive door, looking back at the house. Huangshan Maofeng helped carry my luggage by my side, and Master Attendant was waving to me from far behind me. "Have you told him everything?" Huangshan Maofeng calmly asked. "……Yeah，I’m finished talking." I nodded and said softly. "His wish is now fulfilled, so I will do what I promised you before." V. Osmanthus Cake TBA Category:Food Soul Story